"In this impressive debut, Jane Elliott revisits a fascinating passage in recent American culture, when feminism could advance through popular fiction and critical theory alike. She examines a series of novels both famous and forgotten, unfolding their allegorical layers to show how they speak directly to the changing contours of domination and liberation in women s lives. The book offers timely lessons, not only about the renewable resources of popular cultural forms, but also about the value of allegorical reading for contemporary critical practice." - Richard Dienst, Department of English, Rutgers University